City officials ask Bangor residents: How do you feel about your neighborhood?

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BANGOR, Maine — Attention Bangor residents, the city’s Quality of Life Committee wants to know how you feel about your neighborhood.

The committee, formed late last year, is tasked with pinpointing problems in Bangor and coming up with solutions to pass along to city officials. Now that the task force has been organized and divided into subcommittees, the group hopes to turn to residents to get a better idea of what challenges it should be tackling, according to City Councilor Pauline Civiello.

One subcommittee focused on housing issues crafted a draft version of a survey that asks Bangor residents a range of questions — from how long they’ve lived in their neighborhood to whether they think the neighborhood has become a better or worse place to live recently.

The meat of the survey asks residents to say whether they believe issues like abandoned properties, noise, substance abuse and speeding are problems in their part of town. It also asks them to reveal what they like most and least about living in their neighborhood and provide suggestions as to what might improve quality of life in the area.

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“These surveys will help the Quality of Life Committee make recommendations and develop ideas … that are driven by data rather than anecdotes,” said Tanya Emery, interim director of community and economic development for the city.

The committee hasn’t decided when it will distribute the survey, and it might wait until early next year to avoid having the survey hit residents’ countertops in the midst of the approaching holiday season, according to Emery. Civiello said the surveys could potentially be sent out in October, depending on how much distribution might cost.

The subcommittee will present the draft to the core committee during a Thursday night meeting, where the committee will decide whether it needs more work and how and when to distribute it. The group isn’t sure when or how the survey will be sent out the the public, but one option might be to have it printed in The Weekly, Civiello said.